Best Practices in Care Coordination & Transitions of Care Communications Jessica Carpenter, MS, RD, LDN Director, Disability and Community Services University of Massachusetts Medical School
Overview/Agenda Care Coordination - Defined Essential Elements of Care Coordination Transitions of Care - Defined Transitions of Care & Communications Considerations to Improve Communication Across Providers Best Practices in Action 2
Care Coordination - Defined The goal of coordinated care is to ensure that patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing medical errors *Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 3
Care Coordination - Defined Care coordination occurs when care plans are implemented by a variety of service providers and programs in an organized fashion. *AAP Council on Children with Disabilities 4
Care Coordination - Defined The deliberate organization of patient care activities between two or more participants (including the patient) involved in a patient s care to facilitate the appropriate delivery of health care services. Organizing care involves the marshalling of personnel and other resources needed to carry out all required patient care activities, and is often managed by the exchange of information among participants responsible for different aspects of care. *Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2007 5
Essential Elements of Care Coordination Comprehensive All services, regardless of health system, are coordinated Patient-centered Meets the needs of the patient and family *CMS Making Connections: Strengthening Care Coordination in the Medicaid Benefit for Children and Adolescents. 6
Essential Elements of Care Coordination Access & Follow-up Connects patients to services Services are delivered appropriately Information shared among and across providers, and always back to the PCP Successful transitions of care *CMS Making Connections: Strengthening Care Coordination in the Medicaid Benefit for Children and Adolescents. 7
Transitions of Care - Defined patients experience transitions in their care, meaning that they leave one care setting (i.e. hospital, nursing facility, assisted living facility, primary care physician care, home health care, or specialist care), and move to another *National Transitions of Care Coalition. Improving Transitions of Care Findings and Considerations of the Vision of the National Transitions of Care Coalitions. September 2010 8
Transitions of Care & Communication Communication is integral to successful transitions of care Across care settings Across providers *National Transitions of Care Coalition. Improving Transitions of Care Findings and Considerations of the Vision of the National Transitions of Care Coalitions. September 2010 9
Impact of Poor Communication Confusion about the patient s condition Duplicative Tests Inconsistent Patient Monitoring Medication Errors Delays in Diagnosis Lack of referral follow-up *National Transitions of Care Coalition. Improving Transitions of Care Findings and Considerations of the Vision of the National Transitions of Care Coalitions. September 2010 10
Considerations to Improve Communication Across Providers Implement EHR Increase the flow of data across providers Support access to accurate and complete clinical data *National Transitions of Care Coalition. Improving Transitions of Care Findings and Considerations of the Vision of the National Transitions of Care Coalitions. September 2010 11
Considerations to Improve Communication Across Providers Health Information Exchange (HIE) Standardization of data Integration of data across providers into EHR Timely sharing of patient information *www.healthit.gov 12
Considerations to Improve Communication Across Providers Medication Reconciliation Establish points of accountability Increase use of case managers and care coordinators *National Transitions of Care Coalition. Improving Transitions of Care Findings and Considerations of the Vision of the National Transitions of Care Coalitions. September 2010 13
Considerations to Improve Communication Across Providers Align incentives Develop performance measures Empower patients and family caregivers *National Transitions of Care Coalition. Improving Transitions of Care Findings and Considerations of the Vision of the National Transitions of Care Coalitions. September 2010 14
Best Practices in Action Coordination of long-term services (LTSS) and supports for Medically Complex Members Medicaid Example 15
LTSS Care Coordination Authorization and coordination of Medicaid LTSS Continuous skilled nursing, durable medical equipment, home health and therapy services, respiratory equipment and supplies, orthotics and prosthetics Nurse Case Manager - Single point of entry for patient and provider(s) related to Medicaid LTSS 16
LTSS Care Coordination Integration of Nurse Case Manager into facility-based discharge planning Onsite assessment in facility Supports successful transitions of care to home settings through authorization of appropriate LTSS Facilitates communication with community-based and medical providers 17
LTSS Care Coordination Integration of pharmacist into multidisciplinary team Provide medication management services Antiepileptic therapy Pain management Mitochondrial disease Ketogenic diet 18
Questions/Discussion 19